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Cited by 118Personality Traits and PsychologyChild and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional DevelopmentBullying, Victimization, and Aggression

I like me if you like me: On the interpersonal modulation and regulation of preadolescents’ state self-esteem

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Thomaes, Sander, Reijntjes, Albert, Orobio de Castro, Bram, Bushman, Brad J, Poorthuis, Astrid, Telch, Michael J·2010·Child Development
DOI 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01435.x
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Abstract

This experiment tested whether peer approval and disapproval experiences can cause immediate change in children's state self-esteem. Children's narcissistic traits and evaluator perceived popularity were examined as potential moderators. A total of 333 preadolescents (M = 10.8 years) completed personal profiles on the Internet that were ostensibly judged by a jury consisting of popular and unpopular peers. Participants randomly received negative, neutral, or positive feedback from the jury. Next, they could examine the feedback that each individual judge gave them. As expected, peer disapproval decreased self-esteem, especially in children high in narcissism. In contrast, peer approval increased self-esteem. Moreover, disapproved children's self-esteem recovery was dependent on the extent to which they subsequently viewed positive feedback from popular judges. These findings support sociometer theory.

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  • Peer popularity is related to higher self-esteem.

    “Indeed, research supports the assumption that peer popularity is related to higher self-esteem (e.g., Litwack, Aikins, Cillessen, 2012;Thomaes et al., 2010).”

    From Low and decreasing self-esteem during adolescence predict adult depression two decades later. (2014) · cites this paper as Thomaes et al., 2010

    The Primary Analyses report that children whose state self-esteem fell after disapproval showed greater recovery when they spent more time viewing positive feedback from perceived popular peers. The study concerns the popularity of the peers giving feedback, not whether children who are themselves more popular have higher self-esteem. (LLM, conf=0.84)

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  • Negative state self-esteem was measured with three items, α=.97.

    “negative state self-esteem (Thomaes et al., 2010), with three items (e.g., I feel satisfied with/ I feel good about/ I am proud of myself right now; 1=Not at all ~ 5= A great deal; reverse-coded), α = .97; rs = .85 ~ .95, ps < .001;”

    From Getting Fewer “Likes” Than Others on Social Media Elicits Emotional Distress Among Victimized Adolescents (2020) · cites this paper as Thomaes et al., 2010

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Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. Harter, S. (2006). The self. In W. Damon & R. M. Lerner (Series Eds.) & N. Eisenberg (Vol. Ed.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 3. Social, emotional, and personality development (pp. 505-570). New York: Wiley.

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Authors
Thomaes, S., Reijntjes, A., Orobio de Castro, B., Bushman, B. J., Poorthuis, A., & Telch, M. J.
Affiliations
  • Utrecht University (NL)
  • Utrecht University
  • University of Michigan (US)
  • The University of Texas at Austin (US)
Corresponding author
Thomaes, Sander
ORCID
Venue
Child Development
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
2010-05-01
Volume
81
Issue
3
Pages
811-825
ISSN
  • 0009-3920 (ISSN-L)
  • 1467-8624
DOI
10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01435.x
OpenAlex
W1936835644
Cited by
118
References
77
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 8
FWCI
6.66
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Child Development (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • ePrints Soton (University of Southampton) (acceptedVersion)
  • Digital Academic REpository of VU University Amsterdam (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) (submittedVersion)
  • Utrecht University Repository (Utrecht University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • VU Research Portal (submittedVersion)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression
Keywords
state self-esteem, peer approval, peer disapproval, preadolescents, narcissism, sociometer theory, self-esteem recovery, perceived popularity, social feedback
MeSH terms
Child, Psychology, Child, Female, Humans, Individuality, Internal-External Control, Interpersonal Relations, Male, Narcissism, Peer Group, Reinforcement, Psychology, Self Concept, Social Desirability, Social Identification, Sociometric Techniques

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